Age differences in the performance of computer-based work
Abstract
This study investigated the extent to which age had an impact on the performance of computer-based work. Three simulated real-world computer-interactive tasks that varied in complexity and pacing requirements were evaluated. Ss included 65 women, ranging in age from 25 years to 70 years. The methodology encompassed physiological, subjective, and objective performance measures. The data indicated that previous computer experience and age had a significant impact on the performance of the 3 tasks. Increased age was associated with longer response times and a greater number of errors for all 3 tasks. Age also influenced perceptions of fatigue and task difficulty. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for training and job design.
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Relative to young people, the performance of the elderly is especially impaired when the complexity of the task is raised.
“In diverse experimental settings and problem domains a so-called complexity effect has been demonstrated, indicating that relative to the young, the performance of the elderly is especially impaired when the complexity of the task is raised (Czaja & Sharit, 1993;Gilinsky & Judd, 1994;Lorsbach & Simpson, 1988).”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Czaja & Sharit, 1993
Performance was especially poorer in the more complex far-transfer domain, which is a confirmation of earlier research findings (Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Gilinsky & Judd, 1994; Lorsbach & Simpson, 1988).
“Performance was especially poorer in the more complex far-transfer domain, which is a confirmation of earlier research findings (Czaja & Sharit, 1993;Gilinsky & Judd, 1994;Lorsbach & Simpson, 1988).”
From Cognitive load theory and aging: effects of worked examples on training efficiency (2002) · cites this paper as Czaja & Sharit, 1993
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BackgroundInfluentialA distinctive theory of teaching and learning for older learners: why and why not?
Tam, M. (2014) · International Journal of Lifelong Education · doi:10.1080/02601370.2014.972998 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“…various dimensions, including physical (e.g. Glass, 1996; Jones & Bayen, 1998; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999), cognitive (e.g. Brigman & Cherry, 2002; Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Echt, Morrell, & Park, 1998), sociocultural (e.g. Aslanian & Brickell, 1980; Havighurst, 1972, 1976; Jun & Evans, 2007) and…”
Park, D. C. (1994) · Human Performance · doi:10.1080/08959289409539854 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Health and productivity of older workers
Robertson, A. R. R., & Tracy, C. (1998) · Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.284 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Technology makes older adults feel older
Caspi, A., Daniel, M., & Kavé, G. (2018) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2018.1479834 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Slegers, K., van Boxtel, M. P. J., & Jolles, J. (2009) · Ageing and Society · doi:10.1017/s0144686x08007629 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“…Maastricht, The Netherlands. example, it has been shown in several studies that when learning to use a computer, older adults take longer to master the system, make more errors and require more help than younger people (Charness et al. 1996; Czaja and Sharit 1993; Kelley and Charness 1995).”
BackgroundInfluentialArning, K., & Ziefle, M. (2007) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-71025-7_9 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Studies have shown that older adults possess a lower computer experience compared to younger users [11, 12].”
BackgroundContinuous Learning Skill Demands: Associations with Managerial Job Content, Age, and Experience
Maurer, T. J., & Weiss, E. M. (2009) · Journal of Business and Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10869-009-9126-0 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Research shows that older adults may require more help (Czaja and Sharit 1993; Elias et al. 1987) and more time (Sieman 1976) and may benefit from having a less stressful environment in which to learn (Jamieson 1969).”
BackgroundTrübswetter, N., & Bengler, K. J. (2013) · International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design (Driving Assessment Conference) · doi:10.17077/drivingassessment.1532 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Discriminating market segments using preferential green shift: a conjoint approach
Kulshreshtha, K., Tripathi, V., Bajpai, N., & Dubey, P. (2017) · foresight · doi:10.1108/fs-02-2017-0007 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Acquisition and Application of New Technology Skills: The Influence of Age
Westerman, S. J., & Davies, D. R. (2000) · Occupational Medicine · doi:10.1093/occmed/50.7.478 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Older Worker Training: What We Know and Don't Know
Charness, N. H., & Czaja, S. J. (2006) · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationThe development of a measure of subjective computer experience
Smith, B., Caputi, P., & Rawstorne, P. (2004) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2004.04.001 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“…amount of computer experience acquired over time (Bandagliacco, 1990; Burkes, 1991; Busch, 1995; Caputi, Jayasuriya, & Fares, 1995; Culpan, 1995; Czaja & Sharit, 1991; Hall & Cooper, 1991; Miller & Varma, 1994; Pope-Davis & Twing, 1991; Ryker & Nath, 1995; Scarpa, Smeltzer, & Jaison, 1992),…”
Generation X and the boomers: organizational myths and literary realities
Appelbaum, S. H., Serena, M., & Shapiro, B. T. (2004) · Management Research News · doi:10.1108/01409170410784635 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
An Evaluation of Performance by Older Persons on a Simulated Telecommuting Task
Sharit, J., Czaja, S. J., Hernandez, M., Yang, Y., Perdomo, D. M., Lewis, J. E., Lee, C. C., & Nair, S. N. (2004) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/59.6.p305 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“The study is part of a larger research program that is focused on older adults and computerbased work (Czaja & Sharit, 1993, 1998; Czaja, Sharit, Ownby, Roth, & Nair, 2001).”
BackgroundSelf-citationAge and skilled performance: Contributions of working memory and processing speed
Brigman, S., & Cherry, K. E. (2002) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/s0278-2626(02)00510-9 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“However, research has consistently demonstrated that although older adults may acquire new skills more slowly than younger adults, older adults can and do learn new skills (Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Lincourt, Rybash, & Hoyer, 1998; Strayer & Kramer, 1994).”
BackgroundOlder Workers: Myths, Evidence and Implications for Australian Managers
Bennington, L., & Tharenou, P. (1996) · Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.1177/103841119603400305 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Todisco, L., Tomo, A., Canonico, P., Mangia, G., & Sarnacchiaro, P. (2020) · Socio-Economic Planning Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.seps.2020.100858 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
The cerebellum in thought and action: a fronto-cerebellar aging hypothesis
Hogan, M. (2004) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2004.09.002 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“…increasing age (see Salthouse, 1996a, b) but that older adults do not improve as much as younger adults with extended practice on performance tasks (Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Fisk, Cooper, Hertzog, & Anderson-Garlach, 1995; Fisk & Warr, 1998; Jenkins & Hoyer, 2000; Rogers, Fisk, & Hertzog, 1994;…”
BackgroundWilliams, C. A. (2004) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1197/jamia.m1527 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“45 We were surprised that we did not find a statistically significant relationship between formal education and usability in this study or, in contrast to others, 23 astatisticallysignificantcorrelationbetweenusabilityandage.”
BackgroundResultThe Cognitive Aging Principle in Multimedia Learning
PAAS, F. G. W. C., Gerven, P. W. M. V., & Tabbers, H. K. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816819.023 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Füllgrabe, C., & Moore, B. C. J. (2017) · Trends in Hearing · doi:10.1177/2331216517737230 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“…the effects of practice on the TFS-AF test for ONH listeners, who initially might show more procedural (i.e., task) learning, due to their lesser experience with (e.g., Czaja & Sharit, 1993) and possible negative attitude and anxiety toward (e.g., Zygouris & Tsolaki, 2015) computerized testing.”
BackgroundSusło, R., Paplicki, M., Dopierała, K., & Drobnik, J. (2018) · Family Medicine & Primary Care Review · doi:10.5114/fmpcr.2018.78273 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Computers Enhancing the Lives of Older People
Irizarry, C., & Downing, A. (1997) · Australian Journal on Ageing · doi:10.1111/j.1741-6612.1997.tb01042.x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Designing inclusive interactions
Langdon, P., Clarkson, P. J., & Robinson, P. (2013) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-013-0289-0 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Nouchi, R., Taki, Y., Takeuchi, H., Hashizume, H., Nozawa, T., Sekiguchi, A., Nouchi, H., & Kawashima, R. (2012) · Trials · doi:10.1186/1745-6215-13-32 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
“Nevertheless, elderly people often have difficulty using computers [85-87].”
BackgroundReal-Time Occupational Stress and Fatigue Measurement in Medical Imaging Practice
Krupinski, E. A., & Reiner, B. I. (2011) · Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10278-011-9439-1 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Older Adults in an Aging Society and Social Computing: A Research Agenda
Ji, Y. G., Choi, J. H., Lee, J. Y., Han, K. H., Kim, J., & Lee, I. (2010) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2010.516728 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“On the ability of older adults, they tend to make more mistakes in completing given tasks with digital devices than younger people (Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Laberge & Scialfa, 2005; Sayers, 2004) due to the physical and cognitive change with aging.”
BackgroundAdaptation of the older worker to occupational challenges
Moyers, P. A., & Coleman, S. D. (2004) · Work · doi:10.3233/wor-2004-00342 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“The retraining of older workers should be designed so that the worker experiences early successes, is given corrective feedback, is given more time to practice new skills, and receives adequate assistance from trainers [10].”
Delgoulet, C. (2001) · Perspectives interdisciplinaires sur le travail et la santé · doi:10.4000/pistes.3718 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Sterns, H. L., Barrett, G. V., Czaja, S. J., & Barr, J. K. (1994) · Journal of Applied Gerontology · doi:10.1177/073346489401300102 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Self-citationCzaja, S. J., & Sharit, J. (1993) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447319309526053 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationInvesting in Practical Intelligence: Ageing and Cognitive Efficiency among Executives
Colonia-Willner, R. C. (1999) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1080/016502599383711 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Whereas in some research ndings, expanded age differences generally appear associated with increase in task complexity (e.g. Czaja & Sharit, 1993; Sparrow & Davies, 1988), other studies examining compensation in skilled individuals (e.g. Charness & Bosman, 1990) reveal older adults’ performance to…”
BackgroundEnhancing Knowledge Sharing in Age-Diverse Organizations: The Role of HRM Practices
Sammarra, A., Profili, S., Maimone, F., & Gabrielli, G. (2017) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s1877-636120170000017009 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Czaja, S. J. (1995) · Review of Public Personnel Administration · doi:10.1177/0734371x9501500205 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“A recent study (Czaja and Sharit, 1993) found that age-related slowing had an impact on the performance of some computer-based tasks.”
BackgroundSelf-citationBisantz, A. M. (2002) · Encyclopedia of Software Engineering · doi:10.1002/0471028959.sof054 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Rahman, A. (2015) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s1069-096420150000023003 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Learning capability and performance in later working life: towards a contextual view
Jeske, D., & Roßnagel, C. S. (2015) · Education + Training · doi:10.1108/et-08-2013-0107 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Computer Game-Based Learning: Perceptions and Experiences of Senior Chinese Adults
Wang, F., Lockee, B. B., & Burton, J. K. (2011) · Journal of Educational Technology Systems · doi:10.2190/et.40.1.e · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“Senior adults, especially those who are in their 60s, have not been exposed to the computer technological revolution (Czaja & Sharit, 1993; ONS, 2006).”
Background
- Authors
- Czaja, S. J., & Sharit, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Miami (US)
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- ORCID
- Sharit, Joseph
- Venue
- Psychology and Aging
- Published
- 1993
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 59-67
- ISSN
- 0882-7974 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1498
- OpenAlex
- W1970057338
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 26.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychology and Aging (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01ag006794-02)
- National Institute on Aging (AG06794-02)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Demography › Retirement, Disability, and Employment
- Keywords
- age differences, computer work, older women, computer experience, reaction time (psychology), task errors, subjective fatigue, task difficulty, job design
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aging, Attention, Attitude to Computers, Computer Literacy, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Problem Solving, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Software, Workload
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